So You Think You Can Dance, June 7th – All in the Family

After another dancer is put through, unnamed yet again, Janet Lombard with the prosthetic arm says she loved doing the choreography. Her best friend said to her, if she was to tell her right after she lost her arm that in five years she would be auditioning for a reality tv dance show and be in the top 17 women, she would have been saying no way. This is something she can do to get her mind off the other things that happen to her. Nigel tells her that in all his years of doing this, he very rarely cries, and she got him crying. They flashback to Mia crying as Janet says she wants to let America know it’s okay to hit rock bottom, as you have to seize that moment and seize that day, and we see Nigel get visibly shaken up. Back to the present moment, he says she really touched him, and that’s not a bad thing now and again. They looked at everything she has done and what she’s against, and unfortunately she’s not in the top 10 girls, but they would love to see her come back. She says she went in knowing it could go either way, and while she’s disappointed, it will be fine. Another dancer cries with her, and says she really wanted them both to make it.

Ricky Calimino wishes Cat were there so he could talk to her. She’s so gorgeous and it would help keep his mind off things. He thought dancing with Shane was amazing, and fell in love with Mary as he never felt so sexy, but he has to say Mia was the highlight for him. He felt the universe coming through him doing her choreography. It felt so malleable and organic, but with Mary that sexiness was fire. Onstage, Nigel tells him they find him a little strange, and Ricky says he’s not supposed to tell him that. Nigel continues, saying his dancing is superb, but they don’t know how other people will take him. They don’t just vote for dancing, they vote for who they like. He’d like to see him develop. Mia says she thinks he’s awesome and amazing, yet he’s very odd and unique. She would vote for him, because she’s strange too. Ricky explains she’s a good strange. Mary wonders if he’s saying he’s a bad strange. He admits he hasn’t quite found himself, so he doesn’t know what type of strange he is. Mia calls him perfect, and that’s why he’s in the top 20. He hugs Cat and she tells him he has such cold hands, while he says his stomach is a mess.

It’s time for the verdicts of ballroom dancers Anya Garnis and Pasha Kovalev. Shane tells Anya when you get down to it, of course she has the facility for this job and this show. They like a lot of stuff she did, and she is one of the top 20. She says she’s ready to work. Mary tells Pasha they had questions to get him to this stage of the game, prompting Mia to say he’s so one-dimensional and only does what he does. What he showed there in Las Vegas, for her, was not good. Mary interrupts, and says, “But darnit, you are still something else! You are going to be in the top 20.” Anya and Pasha congratulate each other and realize they are now each other’s competition.

Faina Savich’s brother Stanislav made it into the top 20 last season, but after two ballroom dancers went through, she’s not hopeful. If it ends today, she doesn’t think there is anything she could have done differently or better. Now recovered from her collapse, she’s ready and wants to get it over with. Mary tells her they reviewed the tapes and even way back to her auditions, in her own genre of ballroom, they think she is just fabulous, yet they are trying to take dancers from every dance genre, and they think she realizes that Anya has already made it through. Faina says good for her, trying to seem positive, and Mary catches Faina, saying she’s sad to say … she has made it through and is going to be on the show. The makes two siblings so far, Trevor’s adopted brother and now Stanislav’s sister.

Lauren “Misha” Gottlieb had assisted Tyce Dioro last season because she was too young to be a contestant, and says she’s confident and has to be to get this far. It doesn’t overpower the nerves that are going on inside her, though, as she waits to find out if she has come so far just to be done and going home. Nigel tells her he doesn’t really know where to begin, as this is the most difficult decision they had. They agonized over what people would think, perhaps thinking they were more lenient with her after last year. They can’t be seen as showing any favoritism (since when?), so they won’t. She’s in the top 20, but they want her to know they will be tougher on her. So, two siblings and someone that helped the show last year.

Sarah Vaughan is the only “B girl” there, and it makes her feel a little more confident, making her unique. It makes her stand out and gives her that edge. However, that’s not necessarily what the competition is about. It’s about all styles of dance, and she really needs to step her game up, no matter what. Mary tells her in her own dance genre, she is just outstanding, and she thinks this has been the toughest year for the top 10 girls, but they believe in her, and she’s in the top 20. She finishes telling her to now go practice the Viennese Waltz. Personally, I’m not looking forward to it, only because I can never remember how to spell Viennese. Reminds me of the dancer last year that couldn’t pronounce it.